


Starry, Starry Night

by turnedherbrain



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Humor, Not Canon Compliant, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 04:48:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12951624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turnedherbrain/pseuds/turnedherbrain
Summary: Merlin and Freya spend their first Christmas together. To make it extra-special, both of them have thought hard about the absolute best present they can get each other. And the final surprise is something that Merlin has spent many hours perfecting…An ultra-fluffy, festive fic.Happy Christmas, happy holidays or just simply happiness to everyone :)





	Starry, Starry Night

**Author's Note:**

> This can **totally** be read as a standalone fic. 
> 
> Chronologically, it takes place after part 2, ch5 of [The Prince of Kingham series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/884247) to be really precise ;) and happens to fill in a plot hole… 
> 
> **BUT** you don’t have to know anything about that series at all, to enjoy this fic :)

“So, how do you normally spend Christmas?” Freya asked Merlin, looking at him intently. She was propped up on her elbows, her hands cradling her face.

“Wellll… It’s a mixture. I’m normally abroad somewhere,” replied Merlin evasively. That was true – at least partially. He’d been away most Christmases, although the locations blurred into one another after a while. He thought last year, he might have been in – Jakarta?

“And is there any family you’d like to invite?” questioned Freya, sensitive that Merlin had not really opened up to her about this. “Anyone who you’re especially close to?”

Merlin tried to avoid answering this type of question. “Hmmmm, not really,” he admitted, skirting the issue. “I mean, we’ve kind of grown apart since I left home. What about you?” he added, to divert the attention away from him.

“Me? No,” admitted Freya. “Most of my family are in Cornwall, near Tintagel. I can’t go home that often, because of… you know…” and she shrugged by way of explanation. “But I think it’s about the people you spend the time with, rather than _where_ you are. And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather spend Christmas with than you,” she smiled.

“Oh, really?” replied Merlin, eyebrows raised. “Well… the same goes for me. I’d really like to spend Christmas with me too.”

“Mer-linnn!” Freya admonished him playfully.

“OK, OK! You actually wanted a semi-serious answer?” he smiled. “I’d _love_ to spend Christmas with you, Freya. Just, no pressure about each other’s gifts… because I don’t want you to spend a lot. Being with you will be enough for me.”

“Oh? So that means the super jet I bought for you will have to go back…” Freya covered her mouth with her hand, in mock dismay.

Merlin palmed his forehead, pretending he’d only just remembered something: “I’m such an idiot. That means the baby unicorn I got for you will have to be returned to the unicorn farm.”

Despite their joking, they both were thinking about the real surprise they had planned for the other. And they both gave a small, secret smile that they hoped the other person wouldn’t notice.

…………………

The morning of Christmas Day – well, the morning of Christmas Day was spent lazily and blissfully in bed. Freya pulled the curtains aside and glanced out of the bedroom window eventually, only to declare her disappointment that it wasn’t a white Christmas. When the church clock in the village chimed a faint midday, they finally made their way downstairs in their pyjamas, to the tree adorned with lights and presents piled underneath.

“Shall we take it in turns?” laughed Freya, as excited as a young child. They started wildly, grabbing the wrapped parcels and swapping them, exclaiming in delight as they opened up present after present.

That was, until Freya pulled the smallest box out from under the tree, and shook it up and down to try and guess the contents.

“Ummmm, maybe don’t, that’s fragile…” Merlin advised, as he heard a distinct tinkling from inside. He muttered some words under his breath, and the item in the box was quickly, magically repaired.

“Ahhhh,” breathed Freya, unwrapping the silver paper and opening the lid. “You weren’t joking after all.” For inside the box was an exquisite, miniature unicorn that Merlin had made for her. The clear glass was blown in such a way that the light refracted, and as Freya turned it in her hands, it shone out in a rainbow prism. “Merlin. It’s beautiful!” And she rushed over to hug him so that they were enfolded together on the couch, Freya still holding on to the unicorn precariously at arm’s length.

After a while, Freya let go of both Merlin and the unicorn reluctantly, and went back to the tree.

“This one’s handmade too. It’s not nearly as beautiful, but…” said Freya humbly, and she passed a soft parcel to Merlin. He deliberately took a long time opening it. This was already the best Christmas he’d had in a long time, and he wanted to prolong that feeling of happiness.

“Oh!” Merlin exclaimed, as he pulled his present from the wrap. “I genuinely needed this. And it’s handmade!”

“Just don’t look too closely,” warned Freya, “because I’m a beginner. I definitely dropped quite a lot of stitches around the edges. Do you like the colour? I was going to do blue, or red, but then I thought – no, an emerald green…”

“The colour is perfect! And I love it even more, knowing you made it,” said Merlin, admiring the scarf he’d been given. He pretended to inspect the garment: “And I can’t see a single dropped stitch.”

“Go put your glasses on!” Freya giggled, jumping back onto the couch. Then she kissed him: because after all, Christmas is just as much about love, as it is opening presents. The kiss went on – well, for quite a long time, until after most people are sitting down for a late Christmas lunch.

“I don’t need any more presents. I can’t possibly get any happier than right now,” sighed Merlin, his head dropping contentedly onto Freya’s shoulder.

“Actually, I do have one more…” confessed Freya, suddenly shy. “I saved the best present until last, because I thought it might mean the most.”

Merlin wondered what this special gift was, and his heart leapt, thinking of the final gift he’d also planned for Freya.

Freya got up again from the couch, reached behind the tree, and pulled out a large, oblong object. “It’s pretty heavy,” she said in forewarning, as she handed it to Merlin.

This time, Merlin opened the wrapping even more carefully. His hands shook, thinking what it might be… then shook even more, when he knew what was inside. It couldn’t be! His whole being lit up with pure joy. “Freya, this is amazing. How did you… how did you know? And how did you find it? I was beginning to doubt its very existence.”

“Well, Mr New Yorker,” replied Freya, eager to tell the story. “You realise we live in a small village, not a big city? I knew why you’d come here, before you’d even arrived. I think most of the village knew. A stranger, with an even stranger name, trying to pick up a rare book on runes. And then… you were so disappointed to think the book wasn’t real, that it got me thinking. I had a lot of help – from Sam, Artie and the boys. They were all in on it.

“We tracked it down to Japan eventually. Can you believe it? A book like this, and it was with a dealer in Kyoto. He’d only just been given the book – it was in a private collection previously.”

“I don’t know what to say,” murmured Merlin, passing his hand over the cover, his fingers trembling. “I’ve been looking for this book for such a long time; you have no idea how long. And it’s far too much! I can’t even begin to think how much you spent…”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Freya gently, placing her hand over his. “Everyone chipped in – Artie especially. You’ve made quite an impact since you arrived here. And everyone wanted you to know that you’re valued. Me especially.”

When Merlin looked up, his eyes were filled with tears. He was overwhelmed with the gift. Not just due to the generosity of his friends, but by their understanding of how much this book meant to him. “I’m so grateful to you all,” he whispered.

“Well, you do so much for others, without expecting any kind of recompense. You give so much of yourself. We just wanted to repay that,” said Freya quietly, smoothing away his tears with her fingertips.

Merlin’s heart was brimming, and he gave in to the abundance of feelings he was experiencing. Restraining himself from rifling through the book’s pages, he said reflectively: “You know, I’ll always be grateful that I didn’t find the book here straight away.”

“Why not?” asked Freya, her head tipped to one side sympathetically.

“Because if I had, I wouldn’t have found you. And that’s what matters, more than anything.”

…………………

Now that Freya’s final gift had been given, they distractedly ate a very late lunch, both of them too filled up with happiness and excitement to feel hungry.

“Soooo,” said Merlin, after he’d eaten the barest minimum. “I’ve still got one more present to give you. But it involves us going on a walk.”

“Really?” Freya was genuinely surprised. And after they’d quickly dressed and bundled up for the outside, she spent the time as they walked to their destination, trying to guess what her final gift would be: “I think it must be something you can use outdoors. Is it… a tent? Is it, ohh… a sledge? Is it… oh wait… is it a _fully-grown_ unicorn?”

Merlin shook his head at all her guesses. It was none of these. “You’re nowhere near the mark. Although I’m keeping the fully-grown unicorn in mind for next Christmas.”

Freya put her hand into his, and they walked on for a while longer, until Merlin took a turn into the forest. Entering a small, secluded glade, he let go of Freya’s hand and said to her. “Now, close your eyes.”

Freya did as she was asked, her hands clasped together in anticipation of what the surprise would be. The trees around them were bare, the ground was frosty and hard underfoot. The forest was in its winter sleep.

Merlin went to stand opposite her in the glade. He’d chosen the site carefully, and he knew that no-one would disturb them. He’d practised and practised, but despite his power, he still doubted himself in that moment.

“Heofoncandela, áwæcnedon,” he asked their still surroundings. “Abæron beorht ond feorhgiefu oþ þisne holt.”

At Merlin’s command, the forest started to stir, a faint breeze rustling through the bare branches, the trees creaking in response. The ground around Freya’s feet started to show grass shoots, the sky grew darker and pinpricks of light appeared, flowers began to burst out of the soil, and the woodland came magically alive.

“Open your eyes.”

Freya slowly looked around, and gasped. There were dazzling daisies at her feet. Vibrant green vines were clasped to the trees, while many-hued flowers competed to be proclaimed the most colourful, the most alluring. The grass around the glade grew soft and abundant. Bright butterflies flickered and flew past her, and dragonflies glowed. The sky above was velvet night, the stars burning out of the heavens like they’d been painted there by Van Gogh himself.

“You know I never see this, don’t you? At least, not as myself. I only see it through the creature’s eyes. The beauty of the night sky… all those stars in heaven.” Freya looked up and twirled around, unable to contain herself.

Merlin nodded, concentrating on holding together the beautiful illusion that he’d created. “Wait. There’s more.”

And he focussed again. In the next moment, crystalline snowflakes started to fall lightly and silently around them, until the glade became a shook globe of bright, white snowfall. Freya stuck out her tongue to catch a falling flake. “But it’s so real! It’s wonderful!”

She came and took both his hands, gazing up at him joyously. “Thank you, so so much. I can’t put into words how I’m feeling. Just know that this is the most special gift I’ve ever been given, and ever will be given. I will never forget it.”

And so the story ends: a picture of a couple standing together in a forest glade, the snow falling softly about them, with all of nature awakened and vibrant, proclaiming the wonder of the earth and the starry, starry night above.

**Author's Note:**

> Merlin says: “Arise stars, and bring light and the joy of life to this forest” in Anglo-Saxon – it’s a very literal translation though!!
> 
> This fic was inspired by some lyrics in the song ['Starry, Starry Night'](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/donmclean/vincentstarrystarrynight.html) – 
> 
> _Starry, starry night  
>  Flaming flowers that brightly blaze …  
> Colours changing hue_
> 
> The version I’ve been listening to is [Lianne La Havas’ cover version](https://youtu.be/vp5qJlr4go0) of the Don McLean song, which is taken from the soundtrack to the film ‘Loving Vincent’.


End file.
